Pretty & Sweet

I took a pretty picture of a sweet little girl.

I'm so glad I finally got to meet little Victoria!

P.S. I thought we were going to lose her.  I probably should have mowed first!

In Pictures

Since I'm sure you're wondering, I thought I'd share a bit of what we've been up to lately.  Let's just say it's been busy!

1. I got to go on a field trip to The Richmond Children's Museum with Jake and all the rest of the Kindergators.  So much fun!  And lots to investigate and explore.

2. Seattle buddies came to visit, so we dragged them to the Natural History Museum.  So much happiness and fun!  Belky's wonderful.  She even likes to hold giant grasshoppers.  In fact, all the girls (Belky, her two little beauties, and yours truly) all held big bugs.  The boys did not. Interesting...

3. We were chased by this killer squirrel.  Or maybe he was just really friendly.  I think there's a fine line between the two.  At least when it comes to squirrels.

4. The boys were reunited with Seattle buddies, too.  I'm now working on arranging Camden's marriage.  I'm feeling pretty confident since he's still talking about her two days after she left.  Of course, by the time they get married he's going to have to start saying her name.  Right now, he likes "she" better than "Elena."

5. Belky and I are the same height.  It's not the reason I like her, but it doesn't hurt either!

6. We celebrated SBL's Opening Day by standing around a football field on a very hot April day.  I was so proud of our team for following directions and being such good little baseballers!  We also had our first game and those Sidewinders made me the happiest coach ever!  Teamwork and sportsmanship out the wazoo!  A huge improvement since our first practice, let me just tell you!  Sorry no pictures, but that would be quite a challenge in my current situation... 

7. And finally, Camden took over my bed last night. I'm already feeling sorry for Elena.

You know it's picture day when...

... you walk into the bathroom where your children are supposed to be brushing their teeth, to find them instead brushing their hair - with toothpaste covered toothbrushes.

They wanted to look like rock stars.

Dinner Guest

We're so busy!  We're doing lots of fun things, even getting to see some fun people!  And right now I've already got at least two posts I should be writing.  But I only have a minute, so instead I'm gonna tell you that the other night we had a very special dinner guest...

Yep, Jason (the Red Power Ranger) came to dinner.  And as I took this picture he squirted.

Don't even bother asking.  I am NOT going to tell you what that means.

So, Jen, what did you do today?

Camden and I have adventures.

Well, since you asked... Let me just tell you!

This morning started out all nice and normal. Yeah, we're back to real life (aka school) after a fantastic Spring Break. So we got Jake off to school and Camden enjoyed his gymnastics class. It's a crazy-rainy day and I don't like going to Costco on crazy-rainy days, so we skipped that errand. I mean, who wants to load all that junk into the car – one box at a time – in the rain. Not me, that's who. So, instead of continuing on south after gymnastics, Cam and I headed back North. We decided on the way to stop and pick up some ice cream for our FHE treat tonight. Oh yummy!

And that was where my nice, normal (although way too rainy for my delicate tastes) morning came to an end. As Camden and I discussed just which flavor of ice cream we should get, I noticed that the bus we were following was awfully close to the double yellow line. “Hmmm... I thought. Glad I'm behind that guy.” And then I saw the speeding SUV. Coming the other direction. That was probably about the same time she saw the bus. And she swerved to avoid hitting that bus. But you know I already mentioned it was crazy-rainy, right? So she lost control. And Camden and I got to witness a pretty crazy accident. We almost got to be part of said accident when the SUV – now minus two wheels and quite a few other important-looking parts – came swerving at us. But we missed out on that part of the excitement. Bummer. Instead, once all the cars were stopped, I whipped out my trusty cell-phone (Dan will be so proud that I actually used it) to call for help and went to check on the drivers. So, long story short, both drivers were okay – though the SUV lady was stuck in her car and pretty shaken up – and Camden and I got to hang out in the rain for a LONG time. We talked to firefighters, paramedics, and police officers. The end.

We headed home. But since we still wanted that ice cream, we decided to go to the grocery store in all our cold, wet glory anyway. So we went, and we rushed, because have you ever been wet in a grocery store? Cold! And then, there we were in line, behind a nice pregnant lady. Who was in labor. Now I understand all those panicked looks I used to get when people thought I might pop in the grocery store or the gym. I love babies and all, and the process of bringing a child into the world is a beautiful (albeit kinda yucky) thing, but I really didn't want to be involved. And Camden? Yeah, not so interested in having that conversation today. You know what I mean? So you can imagine my relief when she headed home on her own power.  I'm excited for her, though!  I wonder how she's doing...

So, to recap. I watched an accident. I got wet. I watched a laboring mom buy a mop. I came home. That's what I did today. How about you?

Of Circuses and Coolness

My boys have, without a doubt, the coolest uncles and aunts.  It's true.  And I can prove it.

Yesterday, Uncle John and Aunt Maria took the boys to the circus!  No mommy.  I think that was the coolest part.  The boys agree.  The kids had a blast, and I really  think John and Maria did too.

At least I hope so...  They could provide me with some seriously cute nephews and nieces.  As long as my little hoodlums don't scare them off first!

Clarification

Oops!  It seems I was unclear in my last post.  Jake is a nice boy weather it is sunny or rainy. Really, it's true.

It is ME, the MOMMY, who has a little trouble remembering to be nice when the sun is hiding for days on end.  But don't worry.  I've been very nice for going on four days now!

Of course, the weatherman told me I might get mean again this afternoon...

Today Was A Very Good Day

I'm a lot nicer when the sun is shining.

I was REALLY nice today.

P.S. I like Jake's smile.

When in Rome (or Stafford)

When in Stafford, you spend a lot of time with Marines.  They are seriously everywhere.  And when you spend a lot of time with Marines, your little boys totally switch loyalties.  Boys who once wanted to be Army-Men now want to be Marines.  Hmmm...  An interesting turn of events when you come from an Army family...

So what do you do when it's a rainy day during Spring Break and you have two hopeful Marines bouncing off the walls?  You take them to the Marine Corps Museum, of course!  So that's what we did.  And we enjoyed it thoroughly.

The boys' favorite part was the room representing the Toktong Pass, where we felt the cold, saw and heard the firing guns, and heard the panicked voices of the Marines in combat.  It felt very real.  And the boys, who walked into the room nervous, ended up joining in the battle with finger-guns and shooting noises.

I loved it all.  So much history all around me.  It really doesn't get much better than that.  But I did have a favorite part...

My favorite part was taking the boys upstairs to the second and third levels, where you look over the rest of the museum, seeing jets and helicopters up close.  Apparently, Jake has an issue with heights.  There we were, on a deck as wide as our living room surrounded by railings higher than his head, and Jake was plastered against the back wall.  Is it bad that I found his little problem absolutely hilarious?

A Visit

Our sweet niece Mary came out to visit!  Granny and Poppy kept her pretty busy, but we were able to sneak in a few days while she was here.  We loved having her around - and introducing her to the Egg Toss!  Thanks for sharing her with us, Debbie!

Egg 2009

Easter is always a lot of fun when you hang with us.  First, we hide eggs around the yard and find most of them.  Matt-Matt gets to mow over the ones we don't find later.  Then, we throw eggs at each other.  And then, since that's just not enough, we throw eggs at each other... OVER THE HOUSE.  Yes, it's a highlight of the year.

I'm always very impressed by the winners (and to be honest, anyone who can get their egg over the house at all) because I tend to throw my egg directly into the side of the house.  That creates quite a mess...

So, without further ado, I give you the winners of Egg Toss 2009...

TEAM CHARLIE

Matt-Matt and Zachary

Congratulations, guys!  I know this is an accomplishment you can be very proud of!

May Flowers

You know the little weather rhyme, "April showers bring May flowers?"

Well, I'm trying to focus on the "bring May flowers" part.

It's been really rainy here.

We Played Hookie...

To visit this guy.

It was good to see you again, Abe.  It's been far too long.  Next time, though, let's do it on a warmer day.  Thanks.

Dinner and a Show

On Saturday we went to Toby's to see "High School Musical - On Stage" with the fam.  We had tons of fun!  Jake ate a whole basket of rolls, a piece of chocolate cake, a bowl of ice cream,  and drank a huge glass of chocolate milk.  Camden ate two bites of cantaloupe and drank a little chocolate milk.  I ate altogether too much good food.  Yummy!  We enjoyed good company (yeah, we really like our family).  And then the show began.  It was great, and the best part was watching the boys faces.  Let's just say they were very involved...

And we mustn't forget my favorite moment of the evening: When Troy and Gabriella kissed, Jake leaned over to me and said (over the squeals from the million Girl Scouts in attendance), "I sure hope they're over sixteen!"  I think my work here is done.